IRS smoking gun uncovered by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp

Feb. 6, 2014, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today issued the following statement calling attention to documents uncovered by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Dave Camp proving that the proposed IRS regulations against 501(c)(4)s were planned while the targeting of the tea party was ongoing, and not in response to that scandal in 2013 as the Obama administration has contended:

“President Obama can no longer hide behind his seemingly perpetual state of confusion over what is happening in his administration, as records now clearly show. The 2012 email released by Chairman Camp proves that the new IRS regulation restricting 501(c)(4) organizations’ political speech was not in response to the scandal targeting the tea party or any confusion about what (c)(4) regulations mean, but was devised well in advance.

“The IRS had a long-term plan to use its power to intimidate and stop small conservative groups from participating in the political process using the same tax-exempt status as groups like Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters that publish voter guides.

“Congress can no longer stand idly assuming good will from this administration and it must use its power of the purse including any extension of the debt ceiling to expressly prohibit the implementation of these new IRS rules designed to squelch First Amendment rights of Obama’s political opponents.”

Attachments:

“Camp Blasts Treasury & Lois Lerner for Developing 501(c)(4) Rules ‘Off-Plan’” Feb. 5, 2014 athttp://waysandmeans.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=369014

“Obama’s state of confusion on IRS underscores cover-up,” By ALG Senior Editor Robert Romano, Feb. 5, 2014 at http://netrightdaily.com/2014/02/obamas-state-confusion-irs-underscores-cover/

Burned Out?

On Feb. 7 the U.S. government will bump into the federal debt ceiling - again.

Unless congress raises the ceiling, the federal government will be unable to pay all its bills.

"Without borrowing authority, at some point very soon, it would not be possible to meet all of the obligations of the federal government,” (Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew) said...

So where's all the drama? The fireworks? Why doesn't anyone seem concerned?

Is it because, after all the sturm und drang of the sequester and the government shutdown, we're all burned out over faux fiscal crises?

Or is it because most people think that the debt ceiling will be raised without the brinksmanship and theatrics of last year?

I suspect it's the latter. The republicans feel burned by the way they were portrayed as obstructionists and extremists. That's what happens when the media is firmly on one side, and the other side is woefully inept at getting its message out to boot.

What we have here is a system that is broken in many ways. One of the more systemic is the current process in which congress continuously passes spending bills far in excess of tax revenue, separate and apart from legislation authorizing the debt ceiling. Not only does that encourage fiscal irresponsibility -- how long can any entity exist by spending more than it brings in? -- but it also decouples any limit on borrowing funds from the process that creates the necessity to borrow those selfsame funds.

Unifying the spending, revenue, and debt actions into a single process and bill would help clarify and highlight the nation's financial situation.

Maybe that's why they don't want to do it...

Of course, any serious discussion of the country's finances simply must begin with a hard look at how, and how much, $$$ is spent on things that never should see the light of day. Here's just one example.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management is taking heat for spending $98,670 to install a single outhouse at a trailhead in Alaska, the most recent example of federal agencies making questionable purchases in September.

That last bit - the part about "questionable purchases in September" - is related to the 'spend it or lose it' aspect of the federal budgeting process, whereby an agency's budget for the next fiscal year (which ends Sep. 30) is based on how much of their budget was spent in the previous year. If the agency doesn't spend all its allocated funds (or more), next year's budget is slashed. That results in a powerful negative incentive to spend, spend, spend.

Back to our example:

The prefabricated Aspen Single, produced by outhouse manufacturer Romtec Inc., has a single toilet, operates without water and can hold 750 to 1,000 gallons of waste. But the company website puts the estimated starting price of the unit at $10,000, a little more than one-tenth of what the government paid.

Okay, I know what you're thinking. Why on earth did the government pay almost ten times what a private citizen would have paid? We'll get to that in a moment. But first, think about this a little deeper. Basically, we're talking about a shed over a hole in the ground that holds somewhere around 1000 gallons.

The taxpayer-funded $98,000 outhouse.

Granted, it's a nice looking shed. But still, I can dig a big hole, line it with sealant so the contents don't leach out, and build a shed over it for one helluva lot less than $10K, much less $100K. So why the inflated cost?

After five companies competed for the contract, BLM hired Alaska-based Big Street Construction, a small company run by a married couple that is listed in federal databases as both owned by a woman and minority-owned.

"...owned by a woman and minority-owned."

Oh.

Now I get it.

But wait. It gets worse. Instead of constructing the outhouse themselves, the "woman and minority-owned" firm turned around and purchased it from a company that actually builds the damn things.

The actual manufacturer, Romtec, is based in Oregon, and government paperwork lists it as the manufacturing location. That suggests that the unit itself is being transported to Alaska all the way from Oregon. The trip from Romtec’s headquarters to the trailhead is almost 2,500 miles.

That means we taxpayers are being billed for the cost of the outhouse, including the manufacturing firm's overhead and profit, along with transportation costs from Oregon to Alaska, installation cost, and the "woman and minority-owned" firm's overhead and profit.

And here's the cherry on top of the outhouse sundae. The outhouse doesn't have internal plumbing. It's basically a fancy port-a-potty sitting on top of a small septic tank. At some point the tank will get full, which means the BLM will have to hire a private company to empty it. That means another grossly (hah!) inflated federal contract to some loophole-savvy firm.

Of course, BLM personnel could empty the tank themselves.

Let's see a show of hands from everyone who thinks that will happen...

Since the federal government knows only one way to deal with crap - dump it on the taxpayers - there's little doubt what their solution will be.

What The…

….hell is wrong with these people. Who is going to pay for 2.5 million “free agents” health care you idiots?

“We have the CBO report, which rightfully says, that people shouldn’t have job lock. (What the hell is job lock?) If they — we live in a country where there should be free agency. People can do what they want,” Reid told reporters outside of a close policy luncheon. “And what they’re saying here is — and the fact checkers have already done this — the Republicans talk about losing millions of jobs simply isn’t true. It allows people to get out of a job they’re locked into, because of — they have healthcare in their job.” (So the CBO says 2.5 million jobs lost, yet Harry  Reid says that this is a republican claim and is not true…anybody else see the problem with that?)

 “So my caucus is right on track to understand this. The CBO report is far better for us than it’s not. Republicans should get away from repeal and start talking about some constructive ways to handle the issues that they’re concerned about,” he added. (I think the GOP should stay front and center on Obamacare, it’s problems, it’s costs, and it’s eventual repeal. You want to win 2014 mid-terms? Stay the course, don’t worry about income inequality, illegal immigration, or whatever shiny object the Democraps pull out of their collective asses to distract you with.)

Said Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) today: “I am growing increasingly alarmed at the Democrat’s refusal to not only discuss solutions to fix this calamity, but also by their denial that a problem even exists with Obamacare at all.”
“The Budget Office does not see unemployment falling below 6% for the rest of President Obama’s term. Six percent for the remainder of his term,” said Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas). “Yet despite all of this, the President still won’t get behind genuine pro-growth reforms, he won’t support genuine reforms of our existing programs like Medicare and Social Security that would actually save them and put them on a fiscally sustainable path. He has no plan for controlling our national debt.”

Did you Vote for It?

Did you Vote for Someone Who Did?

Then I don’t want to hear from you.

None of us want to hear from you.

Embrace the Suck.

While I must admit, I enjoy the Schadenfreude associated with watching Liberals of every stripe realize what an abortion Obama Care actually is… it’s hilarious to see the minds of those who consider themselves smarter than the rest of us trying to reconcile that we Dummies out here wandering around in our own ignorance were… Right from the very beginning…. and watching those very same Elitist’s with French Envy suffering alongside the rest of us because they and their Ilk destroyed a perfectly good Health System… I no longer want to hear from them.

It’s well past time we stop tolerating those who share no tolerance of the rest of us because they see us as… well, sub-human. I can’t find any other way to put it. How else do you describe another entity which you believe to be so profoundly stupid that it cannot, under any circumstances, be allowed to make decisions for itself because it can only be counted on making what you would consider the wrong one? That’s how The Liberal Progressive Democrat Party and 80% of the Republican Party view us.

They have always positioned themselves as the smartest people in the room, thus they viewed it as their divine right to hold the political offices and bureaucratic roles placing them in positions to tell us what to do.  They respond to our questions with “Shhh… just stay quiet and let the adults talk.”  They are genuinely outraged when any aspect of their behavior is brought out into the light and questioned… for any reason.

Maybe they’re right about one thing.  Maybe it IS time for the Adults to take the reins.

Obama Care needs to be Repealed and we need to go back to the Terrible, Horrible, Mean Spirited, Apocalyptic system we had just a few years ago where, according to the smart people, babies were dying on the doorsteps of E.R’s and Doctor’s laughed while watching Illegal Immigrants bleed out in front of them.

In other words, since none of that ridiculous crap ever happened, we need to go back to the system we had because… it worked.

Only then can we address whatever problems it might have had.  Only then.

Make no mistake, the Liberals are staring into a light at the end of the tunnel… and it’s not a way out.  The very real fear being felt by those who wish to control us is the possibility that We The People demand Obama Care be Repealed.  Because if we do, and we get it done, it sets a precedent for all the other wasteful, bloated and rotting Socialist Schemes metastasized cancers upon This Greatest Experiment.  The Terror comes from the fact we might realize that if we can dismantle what is easily the largest new bureaucracy the planet has seen since China, and the Soviets, then we can eat the other Elephants in the room one bite at a time.

The Smart Folks want us to climb on board with “fixing it” while leaving it in place and thus leaving them in charge.

I want to be in charge of my health care.  I want a Private System where performance and innovation are rewarded.  I want a Private System that rewards Doctors for their efforts.  (I want my Doctor driving a Mercedes… not a stolen bicycle.)  For That matter I want a Private System FULL of Domestically Trained Doctors… not nurses or transplants.  (Bless Nurses, but they’re not Doctors.  They could have made that choice and competed with those that did, but they did not make that choice.  That’s not my fault.)

So…

This IS the Hill upon which we must fight.

LIBERTY 101

Now that more and more people are realizing that freedom and liberty are the only true ways a nation can be run. I've found myself fielding questions about how we can question authority in an attempt to gain a little bit more liberty.

Well if you are one of these people, I've decided to make a list for you. This way when you are faced with a situation in which you want the free market to work for you, and you don't know how to make it happen.

#1 do not order chicken by the bucket.

For years I just went along with ordering chicken in an appropriately sized bucket relative to the amount of chicken I ordered. Not once did I ever question the fact that nearly every chicken restaurant sells its chicken In some sort of bucket. I refuse to allow myself get painted into a box, or circular drum in this case. From now on I will only buy chicken in a box or a bag, and with your help the market will correct itself.

#2 scream fire in a movie theater

People talk about our constitutional right to free speech all the time. They always give the exception that you cant scream the thing that I said for number two. The thing is, you can. You can scream it all you want and I bet no one will care. How many car alarms have you walked passed while they were going off and you did nothing? How many times have you witnessed drug deals, or someone smoking a joint at a concert and you did nothing? This is much the same, no one will ever care that you screamed fire in a movie theater... but if you exercise this right often enough, eventually there will be a fire, and people will thank you.

#3 take a penny from the trey, but leave 2

It's a well known fact that the government can run charitable works well at all. However there are many charities that opporate at 90% efficiency and above. Nothing screams private sector efficiency like a 100% return. If the government ran the take a penny leave a penny trey each donation would cost the store $32.

Well those are just a few suggestions, make sure you leave yours in the comments section below.

“Obama’s Weaponization of Government”

The weaponization of government is happening and it’s time Americans took notice. For all the folks – primarily on the left – who screamed and yelled that the Patriot Act was shredding the Constitution, far more intrusive tactics that have nothing to do with the NSA or Homeland Security are being deployed right under our noses during this Administration. Those tactics reduce every Americans’ personal and economic freedom.

There is a dangerous arrogance of power among the President and senior-level Democrats that should concern every American. [...]

The IRS scandal is well-known and the misuse of the agency by the Democrat Party machine is still apparently going on. However, the IRS is just one of dozens of other agencies under the control of this White House, many of which go unnoticed by the public and are virtually ignored by elected officials.

There are the new revelations about the Administration intimidating banks to prevent them from doing business with a number of legitimate businesses. The until recently covert Operation Choke Point administered through the Departments of Justice and Treasury is already having an impact on the financial industry and other legitimate businesses the Administration is targeting. According to the Wall Street Journal, J.P. Morgan , has been forced to cut ties with thousands of customers in the last year. Sources indicate that out of fear of government scrutiny, the bank is ending relationships with customers even if there isn’t any sign that the customer has done anything wrong. Other major banks have stopped offering certain popular, legal products or services because of government pressure.

Documents inadvertently leaked by the Department of the Treasury from a briefing on Operation Choke Point clearly show that the Administration is looking to significantly impact legal businesses because it believes the public needs to be protected from industries and customers deemed more likely to engage in criminal activity. According to the Administration, those industries interestingly include ammunition sales, gun sales, home-based charities, gambling, pharmaceutical sales, short-term loans, raffles, Amway and Mary Kay-style sales businesses, and credit repair services.

The Administration is refusing to answer any Congressional inquiries about Operation Choke Point. [...]

As the Washington Examiner’s Richard Pollack recently reported, “they assume all businesses are predatory,” which allegedly gives them the ability to collect up to 96 separate data points from more than 1 billion credit cards. That’s right – your government is now keeping tabs on how you spend your money.

Congress has asked CFPB questions about the consumer “snooping” program and has been given little in response. The head of CFPB Richard Cordray did however inform Members of Congress that Americans cannot opt out or prevent this personal data collection. [...]

So under the guise of consumer protection and fraud prevention, the Administration is using a range of Executive Branch agencies working together and separately to determine which products, services, payment methods, and other previously legitimate activities necessitate steep regulation and public defaming. This will lead to not only an unconscionable interference with the free market but also a restriction of personal choice for every American.

Obama said he was going to fundamentally transform America.

There you go.

Pitchforks and torches, gentlemen and ladies?

Hope And Change In One Graph

I lifted the following graph from The Blogmacracy.

I saw this after reading in the Atlanta Urinal and Constipation about how strong the recovery is now. Over the last five years we have witnessed over and over again the LSM propaganda arm of the Dimocrat Party trying to convince us that Obamanomics is working. Remember “Recovery Summer”? Remember “Green Shoots”? Howza ’bout “funemployment” where they tried to convince us that unemployment was actually a good thing. Ex-Speaker Blinky even said that paying unemployment created jobs. WTF? Let’s pay everyone unemployment and it would create so many jobs that we wouldn’t need to pay it. This is the same rocket scientist who said about Obummercare, “We will have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it.” In a sane world, she would have been locked up in the California Home for the Mentally Bewildered rather that being the most powerful woman in Congress.

Unemployment “plunged” to 6.7%, the lowest level reached during Jug Hussein Ears Downgrade’s regime. And why did it “plunge”? Because more people have given up looking for work.

Workforce participation started dropping when the Dims took over Congress in 2007 and really plunged with the election of Obungler, who has pivoted to jobs so many times he has screwed himself into the ground. And remember Gaffemeister Joe who said the most important thing is “a three letter word. Jobs”. Just imagine if Dan Quayle had said that. TheLSM propaganda arm of the Dimocrat Party would have split themselves wide open with paroxysms of laughter while writing just how dumb Quayle was.

How many times has Oblunder “focused like a laser” on jobs? He’s in his fifth year and look at his “success”. When unemployment was 5% under Chimpy McHalliburton Bushitler, Dimocrats and the LSM propaganda arm of the Dimocrat Party called it a jobless recovery. Wouldn’t it be nice to have another “jobless recovery” like that?

We’ve been hearing a lot about how this level of unemployment is a “new normal” and the presidency has gotten “too big for one man”. These are the excuses we constantly hear from the LSM propaganda arm of the Dimocrat Party when we have a failing Dimocrat president. We heard the same bullshit when Jimmah Carter was president. We didn’t hear this when Reagan was president and he successfully led us out of a worse economy than Oblamebush “inherited”. He also won the Cold War despite the Diomocrat Party trying to undermine his efforts. After all, the rat bastard commies in Russia were kindred spirits to the leaders of the Dimocrat Party. The LSM propaganda arm of the Dimocrat Party has to work even harder now since we have a black president and they have invested so much in him up to the point of not doing their due diligence and properly vetting him. We knew more about Sarah Palin three weeks after McRINO picked her to run with him than we will ever know about Obeauzeau. They should hide their faces in shame, but they have none. They are not journalists. They are stenographers and propagandists. Yet many of them actually think they are unbiased. Not only are they lying to us, they’re lying to themselves.

But I digress.

I would really like to see this chart with only black participation. The people Obeavis’ policies have hurt the most are black workers. He has been a disaster for blacks. Lucky for him and the Dimocrats, blacks are so stupid that they continue to vote for the people who have kept them poor, uneducated, and stuck on the Dimocrat plantation. (Yeah. I’m a raaaa-cist for pointing out how stupid blacks are for voting for Obutthead and the Dimocrats) Dimocrats also control the schools, which continue to bombard students with socialist propaganda and the LSM, which is the propaganda arm of the Dimocrat Party, which reinforces the bullshit that students are fed in the schools. I had one commenter who said he wasn’t brainwashed in the school system and then displayed total cognitive dissonance by pointing out that the longer one goes to school, the more likely that person is to vote for Dimocrats.

Wait until after the 2014 midterms, where we will prolly have three of the six red state Dimocrat senators win reelection running on “fixing” Obummercare. It’s not only blacks who are stupid in voting for Dimocrats. There are plenty of stupid white voters as well.

We’re doomed!